Tottenham Hotspur played an impressive first half against Arsenal in Hong Kong (HT: 1-0 for Tottenham) in what is an ongoing history North London Derby beyond the English shores. And it was the first half that showed us a lot about Thomas Frank and the structure he is trying to implement at Hotspur Way given how time and again, the Lilywhites caused trouble to the star studded Arsenal side.
While this one on paper is just a friendly, but the intensity of those first forty-five minutes were nowhere near a friendly. We saw twenty-two players going on full gear trying to win this one, showing how much of importance does this fixture hold emotionally for the supporters.
There were a few things that we spotted in those first forty-five and we will list down the three of them.
Tottenham’s build-up clearly showed Thomas Frank influence
We saw how the Lilywhites were deliberately trying to inviting Arsenal into the press, deep in their own half before releasing on the channels which is quite similar to the tactical sequences that Brentford used under Thomas Frank for years.
We saw how center-backs as well as Vicario were keeping hold of the ball quite confidently under pressure and trying to bait Arsenal’s first line of press as well as second line of press into over committing. And once they saw the flies in red on the front foot, Tottenham tried to look to play quick vertical or diagonal passes down the channels to take advantage of the spaces behind.
And this is quite a bold approach but we saw a sense of steadiness in that given how Tottenham are quite dangerous when it comes to transitional situations and that is where we saw a sense of composure but structured manner of risk-taking that Frank instilled at Brentford.
This is a major change from how the side looked in the first phase under Ange Postecoglou last season.
Mohammed Kudus’ builds centrally while Porro provides width
Starting on that right flank, the Lilywhites marquee summer signing was not hugging the touchline. Instead, the Ajax academy graduate was trying to drifting inside into central and half-space pockets every time he got hold of the ball.
Now this run from outside to inside (given his capacity to drag players with him) ended up pulling alot of Arsenal’s midfield shape and then it gives a sense of overloads in the central areas.
And meanwhile, Pedro Porro who was pushing high and and wide along that right channel was trying to give Tottenham a sense of width. His overlapping runs end up giving you a dynamic partnership with Kudus where the former Hammers man draws defenders centrally by freeing Porro to attack in the space out wide.
This is a pattern which is very similar to the classic inverted winger/fullback pairing that we see alot these days but given Kudus’ abilities to hold and drag with the ball gives Tottenham a lot of advantage.
Djed Spence had a solid show at left-back vs Saka
There has been a lot of talk about whether Tottenham should rely on Spence but today showed exactly why they should.
The former Middlesbrough star was playing out of position at left-back where he faced Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka who is one of best wingers in the Premier League and Spence handled the threat quite impressively. He was very disciplined when isolate into 1v1s against Saka and was also smart in cutting off the England international’s inside runs.
Spence was also given an opportunity to show his recovery pace a couple of times alongside his physicality, and he did well in both of them.
This outing shows that there is a possiblity that he could find himself at the receiving end of a lot of minutes this season as well especially if injuries or rotation calls for his full-back versatility.
